Benhamipolynoe cairnsi is known from the south-west Pacific Ocean from depths of about 400–500mHanley, J. R.; Burke, M. (1991). Polychaeta Polynoidae: Scaleworms of the Chesterfield Islands and Fairway Reefs, Coral Sea. in: Crosnier, A. Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM 8. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. Série A, Zoologie. 151: 9-82
Description Benhamipolynoe cairnsi has 10 pairs of elytra (fewer than Benhamipolynoe antipathicola) and the preserved specimens studied thus far are not known to be pigmented.Pettibone, Marian H. 1989. A new species of Benhamipolynoe (Polychaeta: Polynoidae: Lepidastheniinae) from Australia, associated with the unattached stylasterid coral Conopora adeta. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 102(2): 300–304.
Biology and Ecology Benhamipolynoe cairnsi has a commensal relationship with the stylasterid coral Conopora adeta.
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